Excellence At Osceola Won't Bring State Title

SPORTS

October 23, 1991|By Frank Carroll, Of The Sentinel Staff

KISSIMMEE — Despite putting together what may be the best boys volleyball record in Florida, Osceola High School has no shot at a state championship. The Kowboys can't win what the Florida High School Activities Association doesn't offer.

The FHSAA is very specific on championship criteria.

From Article 15, Section 5, paragraph 1 of the organization's bylaws. ''In order for a sport to be considered for addition to the current state championships program, 30 percent of the member senior high schools must be engaged in the sport and 20 percent must maintain the sport for it to remain in the championship program,''

There are about 460 senior high schools on the FHSAA member roles, which means about 138 would have to offer boys volleyball for the state to establish a state tournament.

Only in the past few years has boys volleyball gotten a foot in the athletic door. What started off in Seminole County in 1988 spread slowly through Osceola and Orange counties. Volusia and Broward counties only this year have begun forming first-year programs.

If every public and private school in each of those counties engaged in boys volleyball, that would produce about a third of the total needed.

''It's a process of growing,'' said an FHSAA spokesperson who requested anonymity. ''Nobody can predict how slow or how fast a sport is going to grow, and some develop slower than others.''

Consider soccer, softball and the budget crunch.

Boys soccer crowned its first state champion in 1977, five years before the first girls' champion was decided. Slowpitch softball has been crowning champions since 1976, but fastpitch didn't gain a state tournament until 1988.

Given that some school districts are dropping sports programs to save money, it may be years before 30 percent of Florida's schools are footing the bill for boys volleyball.

But Osceola's time is the present, and any delay is bad news for coach Coleen Huff's once-beaten team, which had won 16 in a row going into Tuesday's match against Gateway.

The Kowboys already have avenged their only loss of the season - to Lake Howell - and have knocked off traditional powerhouses Lake Mary, Dr. Phillips and Oviedo.

''If we had a state tournament, we would be a favorite,'' Huff said. ''I've coached at the Junior Olympic level and seen the experience of other teams throughout the state. We're playing well enough to compete with anybody.''

However, boys volleyball is an interscholastic function this year and must abide by all FHSAA regulations. Osceola got stung by one of those regulations last week when it had to decide whether to participate in a Lake Brantley Invitational.

The FHSAA limits volleyball teams to two invitational tournaments and a postseason tournament.

Because there is no official postseason in boys volleyball, Osceola elected to skip Lake Brantley, which would have been the Kowboys' second tournament of the season, to be eligible to participate in the Oct. 31 and Nov. 2 Lake Mary Volleyfest, regarded as Florida's ''unofficial'' state tournament.

''As an invitational it's supposed to bring in the eight best in the state,'' said Huff, who led the Kowboys to third place in last year's Volleyfest.

Osceola has matches remaining with Bishop Moore on Thursday and Boone on Monday ahead of its Volleyfest date.

''We're working on a lot of technical things and our blocking,'' Huff said. ''We want to minimize mistakes and concentrate on setting. If our blocking gets better, we'll be as strong as we can be, but that's one area that can still stand improvement.''